Lysophosphatidylcholine Acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1): A Predictor of Acute Leukemia Prognosis

Background: Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferases 1 (LPCAT1) overexpression and prognostic significance have been shown in various human solid cancers. However, the role of LPCAT1 in hematological malignancies has yet to be extensively explored. The present study primarily aimed to explore the LPCAT1 expression and prognostic significance in patients diagnosed with acute leukemia.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 140 acute leukemia patients (70 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 70 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients) and 70 healthy controls. LPCAT1 expression levels and survival rate were evaluated. Patients' clinical data were extracted from their archived medical records, and the association between LPCAT1 expression and clinical data was determined. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS version 21 and GraphPad Prism version 9.5.0.Results: The findings of this study indicated that LPCAT1 expression levels were significantly higher in AML and ALL cases as compared with the healthy controls (P = 0.038 and 0.032, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that LPCAT1 overexpression was correlated with shorter overall survival in both AML and ALL patients (P = 0.013 and 0.019, respectively). Moreover, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that LPCAT1 overexpression was an unfavorable prognostic factor associated with shorter overall survival in patients with AML (P = 0.02) and ALL (P = 0.04). There was no significant difference regarding clinical parameters between LPCAT1high and LPCAT1low patients (P > 0.05).Conclusion: LPCAT1 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in newly diagnosed patients with AML and ALL. As a result, further attention should be paid when considering treatment options for these patients.